The new year is almost here and for many people that means adopting new year’s resolutions.

I’ve never been much for making resolutions at the beginning of the year, but I understand the lure. A new year means new opportunities and a new slate on which we can write the stories of our lives. People use it as a time to set goals and resolve to make a real change in their lives.

The reason I don’t do new year’s resolutions is that I set goals all the time. Every day, every week, every month I know what I need to accomplish in order to achieve what I want. From time to time my goals may change, and I roll with the punches, but my discipline is still the same.

Some days I’m more successful at checking a task off my list than other days. Some days I abandon my goals in favor of binge-watching Hallmark Channel movies with a half-gallon of Haagen Dazs. But those indulgent days are few, and they’re only temporary set-backs. The next day I’m right back at my to do list, anxious to check off the next goal I want to accomplish.

So here are a couple of my personal goals for the month of January:

1. By January 15 identify the birth date of my great-grandfather so I can order a copy of his birth certificate and document it in on my family tree
2. Over the next ten days, write a minimum of 250 words a day on my new book

Easy-peasy, right? They sound so do-able. And I have every confidence I can get these things (and a few others) done. As long as I don’t get distracted by the Hallmark Channel and ice cream.